Dakota County officials are making several changes in how they notify the public about County Board meetings, after a civic group accused them of a lack of transparency.
County officials denied any sunshine law violations but admitted that some meeting times and locations listed on the county's website and elsewhere had been incorrect.
"Our view is, we meet the legal requirements of the Open Meeting Law in notifying the public," said County Manager Matt Smith said. "We go often well beyond what's legally required."
That law requires that government meetings generally be open to the public, with some exceptions, and lays out consequences if they aren't.
The League of Women Voters' Dakota County chapter wrote an 11-page letter to county officials in late January, pointing out what its leaders said was inadequate notice of meetings, along with examples of incorrect information regarding meeting times and locations.
League officials also alleged that Dakota County commissioners broke the state's Open Meeting Law when they met with legislators outside the county. They asserted that the county should either videotape its committee meetings and workshops, or post more detailed meeting minutes.
"We feel that these problems needlessly discourage the public from participating in Dakota County's governance," according to the letter, which was signed by eight of the League chapter's leaders.
Smith said that posting information in multiple places sometimes led to inconsistencies, though the official meeting notice was always correct. He said he was a "little surprised" to receive the League's critique, because county officials had already had many conversations with them about improving how the county shares information.
